Year B Easter THURSDAY Living Life (for Westminster-Canterbury)

 Year B Easter Morning 2024, 4 April 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Living Life”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The Lord is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed!

Friends, it is Resurrection Day. It is a remembrance that Jesus lived, that Jesus died, that Jesus rose again.

Stay with me here. What if Jesus coming is not about death, and getting us a ticket to the Good Place? 

We can get sidetracked that the point of Jesus coming was to get us into heaven. That is only partly true. It is like saying you go to a restaurant for someone to hand you a bill. There is a lot of water that goes under that bridge before we get to that part, in fact, the whole point of the exercise is missed if we make it about the end.

What if Jesus came to bring heaven to earth, and earth to heaven?

Jesus came and taught us how to live, not how to die. He declared from the beginning of his ministry, according to Mark:

1: 14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Kingdom is here, now. Not pie in the sky by and by. Now before we go any further, Jesus coming back means that there is somewhere he went. But that is not, was not the point.

He came to teach us and enable us how to LIVE.

“I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly!!” John 10:10b

Friends, when Jesus talks about following him and obeying his commandments, he knows that it is a hard ask. He knows that we need to undo, unlearn, relearn from him because what he teaches and what he calls us to do goes against most everything that the world teaches us. 

If you want to know what a Jesus kind of life looks like, simply look at the Sermon on the Mount. It is either a single sermon, Jesus’ stump speech, as it were, or an encapsulation of his teachings. More and more I am convinced that this was his lessons on living that people flocked to hear, and he brought up the differences between the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and God-blessedness of Jesus’ way of Love. That is why it starts with the Beattitudes. “Blessed are…” You can read it in less than 10 minutes. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of St. Matthew, and in it we see just how different Jesus’ way of life is. This is just the highlight summation: 

• Don’t let Anger get a foothold in you, that leads to murder.
• Don’t succumb to lust, which is the seed of cheating on your spouse.
• Don’t swear to heaven or anything else, speak plainly and truly.
• Don’t seek revenge, ever.
• In fact, love your enemies.
• Be generous.
• Lean on God for everything, and pray for that.
• Fast, in secret, and get a hold on your physical self.
• Treasure God, not anything else.
• Surround yourself with light, not darkness.
• Serve God alone.
• And don’t fret. Worry has no place with God in charge.
• Don’t judge others, those tables are easily turned back on you.
• Don’t profane the holy.
• Seek God, and you’ll find God.
• Treat others the way you want to be treated.
• In fact, the only thing that comes close to mentioning heaven are Chapter 7, verses 13-14, and I will read them verbatim so that we are clear. Even here, it is about living not heaven or hell:
• “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
• Even here, Jesus’ worry is about the life we are living and where it leads.
• He concludes with those who do what he says, some do and live, some are posers, and some really get it and bear fruit of a life lived that way. 
• Chapter 7 ends this way:
• Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. (vv. 28-29)

People ran to Jesus because he offered to them something that gave them Life and Hope, not misery and despair.

And today, Resurrection Day is when we knew for sure that Jesus had the Authority to say what he said, and that his way of Life, the Way of Love and Grace, was and is the way to Live. Don’t settle for anything less.

I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, because I only get one ride on this Merry-Go-Round. I want to live each and every second of each and every day that I am given. Of all the philosophies, theories, concepts, or religions I have encountered, the Grace of Christ is the only thing I have ever found that makes sense of this life I have been given. And this choice has repeatedly been confirmed to me to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life that I must live. 

The more and more I let go of going my own way, and going Jesus’ way, I find that the things I cared so much about were so trivial and insignificant. The hours I spend caring about trivialities makes me sad. But thankfully I found a better way. St. Augustine said of living this life, “Love God, and do what you will.” It is not saying we can do anything! But rather, when we put God first then our will becomes more and more God’s will and we need not worry that we are doing things “right.”

We have been wandering the last few days of Lent through some of the hardest parts of living life. Betrayal by loved ones, abuse and condemnation, and even death. It happened to Jesus. It happens to us. If the cross had not killed Jesus, he could have died from a broken heart for all that happened to him in those last days. We all will continue to face this reality that bad things happen, to the good, the bad, to all of us. It is horrible, and yet part of making our way in this world. If we follow Jesus, it is not that we have an easier path, for the hardships still happen, but Jesus’ way gives us an approach to handle it differently. The universe is not harsh and cruel, God’s love and gifts are abundant. The universe is what we make it, and in Jesus’ way we are invited in to re-create the world into what God dreamed for it to be. “We are put on earth but a little space, to learn to bear the beams of love.” [William Blake] And as we do, to share them with all of God’s beloved, our family, our friends, our enemies. All.

Today, as you share that Love you have been given, it can make a difference in someone’s life. You may be the first, the only, Good News that they have received in a long time. You may be the only Bible they ever read, the only Jesus they ever meet.

Our two Marys and Salome, in our reading for the day, went to the tomb. And in their grief and confusion upon seeing the stone rolled back did not know what to do. A young man, all in white, gave them instructions and what to say. There was response was about as human as could be. It says they were terrified and amazed. And because their fear won out, they told no one. Thank goodness someone eventually did.

In the John version of the story, Mary sees Jesus, but thinks him the Gardner until he calls her by name. She then immediately calls him Rabbouni, Teacher. 

Friends, if I have one prayer for you this Resurrection Day, or if not today then sometime on this Merry-Go-Round we call life, I pray that you will hear God call you by name. Once you do, everything changes. Your eyes are opened. Your fears are gone. You move from what was to what could be, should be, can be, forever!

When Jesus calls her by name, she responds, “Rabbouni!” TEACHER! When we hear him call us by name we start the long journey, the pilgrimage toward wholeness and becoming our true selves. He teaches us, confronts us, corrects us, blesses us, to go and do his work in this world that needs his way more and more each day.

Another key difference in John’s account, is that she does tell the disciples that Jesus is risen, and says “I have seen the Lord.”

And as you share Jesus’ love, people may be able to say like Mary said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

May you hear the call of God, calling you by name. May you answer the call by not just letting Jesus be your Savior, but also you Teacher and Lord. And may it be said of you, as you follow God’s Way of Love, that people see Jesus in you, by what you say and how you say it, by what you do and how you do it. And when this life slips into the next, maybe someone will be able to say, “I have seen the Lord!” by the life you have lived.

Blessings this Resurrection Day! The Lord is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Amen

Year B Easter WED 2024 In the Breaking

Year B Easter Week WEDNESDAY, 3 April 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“In the Breaking”

Collect: O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I do not have a lot today. It is just that most of you all have heard me preach on this more than once. You can go in so many directions with this story, but we will limit it to this.

First: Most of us would have been clueless, too. His closest intimates did not know who he was. These two on the Road to Emmaus. Mary Magdalene at the Garden. How on earth would we think that our eyes would be any clearer, or that we would see what so many who knew him better could or did not?

So we are oblivious that the Lord is here.

Second: Once they see him break the bread, then, THEN they could perceive that it was Jesus. Not before. I find this illuminating as well. If there was something unique and new about this daily ritual, breaking the bread, they would have made the connection. Or if not new, then something uniquely personal to how Jesus did this must have come out. 

Either way, they knew it was Jesus through this act.

For me it is often the opposite. When I see the Christ, it is often after the Eucharist. Not so much during as I am very focused on the liturgy and performing the Rite. I am a little honed in to notice much, even Jesus. When I bless the Church post-communion, however, that is one of if not the highlight of my week. Together we are the Body of Christ, and that feeling is palpable for me.

This last weekend, as we finished the 10 am service, I said to a couple of people, “THAT was CHURCH!” It had it all, didn’t it? And even more, people were happy and joyous. We were a family, the Body of Christ, for one brief shining moment.

I am sacramental  in my understanding on how we relate to God, a big shift in my lifetime, so of course this is where my mind goes when I think of Jesus.

Third: One last note, in the last few years we have made quite the production of sanitizing our hands before serving the Eucharist. In an age of pandemic, that will be the norm. But Jesus’ wounded hands actually “sanitize” as it were by whose hands they are. Jesus’ hands are pierced for our transgressions. And with the same he welcomes us home.

What a gift and wonder. The most precious thing ever created, given for us and to us. If that does not wake us up from our obliviousness, nothing else will. Amen

Year B Easter Morning 2024 Living Life

Year B Easter Morning 2024, 31 March 2024 St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA “Living Life” Collect: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. The Lord is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed! Friends, it is Resurrection Day. It is a remembrance that Jesus lived, that Jesus died, that Jesus rose again. Stay with me here. What if Jesus coming is not about death, and getting us a ticket to the Good Place? We can get sidetracked that the point of Jesus coming was to get us into heaven. That is only partly true. It is like saying you go to a restaurant for someone to hand you a bill. There is a lot of water that goes under that bridge before we get to that part, in fact, the whole point of the exercise is missed if we make it about the end. What if Jesus came to bring heaven to earth, and earth to heaven? Jesus came and taught us how to live, not how to die. He declared from the beginning of his ministry, according to Mark:

1: 14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Kingdom is here, now. Not pie in the sky by and by. Now before we go any further, Jesus coming back means that there is somewhere he went. But that is not, was not the point. He came to teach us and enable us how to LIVE. “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly!!” John 10:10b Friends, when Jesus talks about following him and obeying his commandments, he knows that it is a hard ask. He knows that we need to undo, unlearn, relearn from him because what he teaches and what he calls us to do goes against most everything that the world teaches us. If you want to know what a Jesus kind of life looks like, simply look at the Sermon on the Mount. It is either a single sermon, Jesus’ stump speech, as it were, or an encapsulation of his teachings. More and more I am convinced that this was his lessons on living that people flocked to hear, and he brought up the differences between the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and God-blessedness of Jesus’ way of Love. That is why it starts with the Beattitudes. “Blessed are…” You can read it in less than 10 minutes. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of St. Matthew, and in it we see just how different Jesus’ way of life is. This is just the highlight summation:

• Don’t let Anger get a foothold in you, that leads to murder.
  
• Don’t succumb to lust, which is the seed of cheating on your spouse.
  
• Don’t swear to heaven or anything else, speak plainly and truly.
  
• Don’t seek revenge, ever.
  
• In fact, love your enemies.
  
• Be generous, like God is.
  
• Lean on God for everything, and pray for that.
  
• Fast, in secret, and get a hold on your physical self.
  
• Treasure God, not anything else.
  
• Surround yourself with light, not darkness.
  
• Serve God alone.
  
• And don’t fret. Worry has no place with God in charge.
  
• Don’t judge others, those tables are easily turned back on you.
  
• Don’t profane the holy.
  
• Seek God, and you’ll find God.

• Treat others the way you want to be treated.
  
• In fact, the only thing that comes close to mentioning heaven are Chapter 7, verses 13-14, and I will read them verbatim so that we are clear. Even here, it is about living not heaven or hell: “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Even here, Jesus’ worry is about the life we are living and where it leads. He concludes with those who do what he says, some do and live, some are posers, and some really get it and bear fruit of a life lived that way. Chapter 7 ends this way: Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. (vv. 28-29) People ran to Jesus because he offered to them something that gave them Life and Hope, not misery and despair. And today, Resurrection Day is when we knew for sure that Jesus had the Authority to say what he said, and that his way of Life, the Way of Love and Grace, was and is the way to Live. Don’t settle for anything less. I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, because I only get one ride on this Merry-Go-Round. I want to live each and every second of each and every day that I am given. Of all the philosophies, theories, concepts, or religions I have encountered, the Grace of Christ is the only thing I have ever found that makes sense of this life I have been given. And this choice has repeatedly been confirmed to me to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life that I must live. The more and more I let go of going my own way, and going Jesus’ way, I find that the things I cared so much about were so trivial and insignificant. The hours I spend caring about trivialities makes me sad. But thankfully I found a better way. St. Augustine said of living this life, “Love God, and do what you will.” It is not saying we can do anything! But rather, when we put God first then our will becomes more and more God’s will and we need not worry that we are doing things “right.” We have been wandering the last few days of Lent through some of the hardest parts of living life. Betrayal by loved ones, abuse and condemnation, and even death. It happened to Jesus. It happens to us. If the cross had not killed Jesus, he could have died from a broken heart for all that happened to him in those last days. We all will continue to face this reality that bad things happen, to the good, the bad, to all of us. It is horrible, and yet part of making our way in this world. If we follow Jesus, it is not that we have an easier path, for the hardships still happen, but Jesus’ way gives us an approach to handle it differently. The universe is not harsh and cruel, God’s love and gifts are abundant. The universe is what we make it, and in Jesus’ way we are invited in to re-create the world into what God dreamed for it to be. “We are put on earth but a little space, to learn to bear the beams of love.” [William Blake] And as we do, to share them with all of God’s beloved, our family, our friends, our enemies. All. Today, as you share that Love you have been given, it can make a difference in someone’s life. You may be the first, the only, Good News that they have received in a long time. You may be the only Bible they ever read, the only Jesus they ever meet. Mary, in our reading for the day, went to the tomb. And she, in her grief and confusion, thought the Resurrected Jesus was the Gardener. She was looking for a dead body. But the Lord of Life was there. And she knew him at once when he called her by name. Friends, if I have one prayer for you this Resurrection Day, or if not today then sometime on this Merry-Go-Round we call life, I pray that you will hear God call you by name. Once you do, everything changes. Your eyes are opened. Your fears are gone. You move from what was to what could be, should be, can be, forever! When Jesus calls her by name, she responds, “Rabbouni!” TEACHER! When we hear him call us by name we start the long journey, the pilgrimage toward wholeness and becoming our true selves. He teaches us, confronts us, corrects us, blesses us, to go and do his work in this world that needs his way more and more each day. And as you share his love, people may be able to say like Mary said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” May you hear the call of God, calling you by name. May you answer the call by not just letting Jesus be your Savior, but also you Teacher and Lord. And may it be said of you, as you follow God’s Way of Love, that people see Jesus in you, by what you say and how you say it, by what you do and how you do it. And when this life slips into the next, maybe someone will be able to say, “I have seen the Lord!” by the life you have lived. Blessings this Resurrection Day! The Lord is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed!

Amen

Year B Easter Vigil 2024 At Home

Year B Easter Vigil, 30 March 2024
St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“At Home”


Mark 16:1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.


When I was in seminary, one of my favorite professors was Glenn Hinson. Still working to this day in his 90s, he was and is a force to be reckoned with. He single-handedly took on what was the largest protestant denomination in the United States, and almost won. One of the things that struck me most under his tutoring was his response to encountering God.

He would say, when one encounters the living God the only response can be, [drop mouth open and stand in awe].

Tonight, as we see the dream of God fulfilled, our response says much of how we see God, and how we see ourselves.

We started tonight with Creation, of which we are only a part. A special part. An honored part. A broken part. We are the part of Creation which chose to step away from all that we had been given.

God’s hopes for us, for all of us, you and me, and all the generations of ancestors between then and now have not been fulfilled. Yet. But in Jesus, and the whole Christ event, they have been enabled. And the story that we tell of Creation to Christ is the preamble to the main story of God making God’s home with God’s people. We are in the midst of that stream of history right now.

But God’s fingerprints are all over the events that brought us to where we are. We went through a highlight reel of key turning points tonight, sitting in the dark and awaiting enlightenment.

In the Flood, God provided a way out. When sin had become so prevalent, God found a righteous remnant so that his dream could stay alive. Even in Judgement, God extends Grace.

When Abraham believes he hears the call of God he believes he is to sacrifice his son. God in his Providence stays his hand, and even then, Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides, gives him another way out. God wants our devotion not our blood. God wants our heart not our sacrifice. And the dream stayed alive.

When God’s Children were enslaved in Egypt, he called them home. And when all sane hope is lost, they walk through the sea! After the nightmares of the plagues, this miraculous deliverance is beyond belief. When they walk through the waters, they come out on the other side a new people, the nation of Israel, those who wrestle with God. And we only struggle with those things we care about. This nation, newly birthed, cared about this God who “Is.” And the hand of God was all over this as well.

The prophets called out offering Salvation, Wisdom and a Way of Life, and a New Heart and Spirit. The Spirit speaking through them reminded God’s Children of who they were and the path they were called to follow. And we see God’s fingerprints on these words.

Then we were given a vision of death springing into Life, dry bones becoming God’s living, breathing Children. A vision of what is happening to and through each and every one of us. The evidence of God being here is clear as well.

St. Paul reminded us of the baptism leading us into Christ’s death, which also led us into his Resurrection. For this was the plan from the beginning, for God to be at home with us and for us to be at home with God. As Scripture promises repeatedly:

Ezekiel 37:27
My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

John 14:23
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them and be their God;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.


From the prophets, from Jesus himself, from John’s vision of what is to be, God’s dream is to make our home with God. And God took it upon Godself to take away any barriers or burdens or hindrances that might keep that from happening. We sit in darkness awaiting the light, the light that is our homelight burning. That homelight that is God “keeping the lights on for us” as we wind our way home.

[Singing]

Come home, come home,

Ye who are weary, come home.

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling,

Calling, O sinner, come home.

Amen

Year B Holy Saturday 2024 It's The Hope That Kills You

Year B Holy Saturday 2024. 30 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“It Is The Hope That Kills You”

Collect: O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 27:57-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people,`He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

This is the in-between time. When you wrestle with reality. Mixed into the stages of grief somewhere between denial and anger on one side, and depression and acceptance on the other, sits bargaining. In my mind's eye I always seem to see the disciples hidden away sitting there making deals with God.

I hear that in Thomas’ voice when we see him in next Sunday’s readings, when Thomas is bargaining. “I will believe it if I see the nail prints in his hands, and put my hand in his side.” That is a bargain. He is not saying it is impossible. He is saying that it would take extreme  measures to get him there.

We are in the midst of Holy Week, but in our country one could argue that more are paying attention to March Madness with all of its highs and lows. In any sports season, there is hope and grief. Some teams have more one than the other. But that is what we watch sports for, these encapsulations of the life, the highs, the lows, the crapshoot as to how it will all end.

In our office, we are not huge in talking about sports, most of us not having the time to follow any particular teams. But we did follow Ted Lasso, a show about Premiere League Football, aka Soccer, in the UK. In that show, very true to the Football culture, they kept repeating a phrase that seemed to hit home.

It’s the Hope that will kill you.

It is the Hope that’ll kill you. So cynical. So very British. While philosophically not there, I do see how someone could succumb to the idea behind it. If you have low expectations one is easily pleased and easily surprised positively. If you are hopeful by nature, think Linus sitting and waiting for the Great Pumpkin, then the shattering hope is almost more painful than the event of loss itself. The death of hope is the painful part. We grieve what we believe the future would be.

It happens when we have a break-up or a divorce. It happens when our team, as mentioned, is defeated.  It happens when the reality does not live up to the hype or the hope.

The disciples had full faith in Jesus to be the Messiah, and the Messiah was there to establish a restored Israel on the world stage? Right? He was there to kick out the Romans and live up to the promises made to King David. Right?

But Jesus died. Not just that, he was viciously squashed by the powers that be, to silence him and all his followers once and for all! They posted guards on his tomb so that all the prophecies he had made about resurrection could be proven they never happened. 

If “It’s the Hope that kills ya!”, then the world and its master is out to give us hope in things that are not worthy, or to strip us of the hope we should have in the right things. Jesus gave us hope then and gives us hope now. The difference between the disciples and now is that we have the rest of the story. We have a reason to have Hope. It no longer is the Hope that will kill us. It is the Hope that gives us life and breath.

Grace is filled with Hope. Hope that things can change. Hope that nobody is irredeemable. Hope that there is something awaiting us beyond the horizon of death. All the fears of the dark nights of existence can be washed away in Jesus. 

That  is, IF we have Hope. It may kill us if it does not ring true. But I would rather be hopeful and disappointed than hopeless and living my life in that despair.

This swirl of emotions is what the disciples were experiencing between Friday and Sunday. And so we sit. We wait. We might even dare Hope despite every rational reason not to do so.  

As we pause between tragedy and glory, ponder how you live your life. In Hope? In Cynicism? Somewhere else? The Christian character is bound up in being Hope-filled, and may God deliver us from being jaded, especially in a time so readily going there. Amen

Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY 2024 And Judas, Too

 Year B Passion Sunday WEDNESDAY, 27 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“And Judas, Too”

Collect: Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 13:21-32

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

So we are here already. Lent is almost over. We are on the cusp of the Triduum, the morning of Wednesday in Holy Week, and we have the reading of Jesus with his disciples having their Last Supper together. We have come to the end, where Jesus is sending out the one to betray him and hand him over to the Jewish authorities.

I have spoken in years past about the dipping of the matzah into the dish Jesus mentions. The final dish of the meal could very well be the Maror, the bitter herb. Often in the States we use the biggest chunk of horseradish. The taste was to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, often eaten with parsley or romaine lettuce. Was this what was on Judas’ tongue as he was sent out? Or did Jesus use the Charoset, the mixture of apples and wine, the sweet taste of freedom, even then offering and extending Grace to his betrayer?

When I hear people saying that God hates anybody, I remember this moment.

When I hear people talk about who should be excluded from the church or from the altar of Christ, I remember the moment.

When I hear people do anything other than extend enthusiastic welcome to God’s Children, I think of this moment.

I cannot reconcile these thoughts in my mind. If Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas, who are we to take the privilege of excluding anybody?

If Jesus can wash Judas’ feet, who should we exclude? Who is more despicable?

If Jesus can serve the meal to him, who is not welcome? Ever?

We come to receive Grace not to celebrate our Grace.

We come to get a taste of Freedom, this meal being a foretaste and promise of the True Freedom we will one day receive.

That Judas was able to remain with the 12, without shame or scorn or rejection by Christ says so much about who he was and how we should be, too.

Jesus’ sending Judas out with the words, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” haunts me. It haunts me because Jesus and Judas were resolved to go to the point of no return. And even knowing what he was about to do, Jesus welcomed, washed, fed, and loved Judas.

When we are not the people we should be, Jesus does the same for us. Welcomed, washed, fed, and loved, we are called home however far we roam, however deep into sin we have delved.

Jesus is all about transformation. Satan is about corruption. Satan working in Judas takes a kiss, a sign of intimacy and love, and transforms it into betrayal. Corruption at its utmost. Jesus takes a sign of death, the cross, and transforms it into the way of Life. Could it be any more clear? As Rachel Held Evans reminded us: “The apostles remembered what many modern Christians tend to forget– that what makes the gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out but who it lets in.”

When you are feeling down on yourself, or on something you have done, that is not the voice of Christ. Walk away from that voice. Listen for the one who gives life and loves you. If you are not feeling God with you, pray for awareness. God has not, will not, will never leave you. As Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 

Year B Passion Sunday 2024 Extravagance

 Year B Passion Sunday, 24 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Extravagance”

Collect: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 14:1-15:47

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written,

‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.

We have stopped the narrative of the day. It has become a tradition around here, halting before Gethsemane. We start with the readings for the Passion Week, but we are still in the story. We stop it because this is where we are in our service today. Somewhere between preaching/learning, and remembering Jesus’ last supper.

Do not worry, before we go out this day we will finish the readings from Mark that go through Golgotha. We do that as we go out into the week that was, our week that will be…

We embrace the details of this most holy week each and every year. And every year we see them differently, because, I trust, you are different. Water has gone under the bridge. You are older. Are you better? Am I? We will see. And as we have changed the view of these very familiar events change as well.

This year, the thought of Extravagance was what kept echoing in my brain. Over and over again, extravagance is given.

The woman, in Mark unnamed, performs an act of unswerving beauty and unimagined extravagance. Her bottle of perfume, in today’s hourly minimum wage is looking at about $36,000 for a few moments of unimagined Grace.

I like to think that no matter how horrible the events are that come about the rest of this week, Jesus did have this one thing lingering with him. The scent of this gift showered on him would not go away. Even in the cell at Caiaphas’ house, the perfume would remain. A gift amidst so much horror.

We also see the Seder meal that celebrated that night, where Jesus takes the simple elements of reminding God’s people of redemption, and transforms them to symbols of Salvation and Grace.

Jesus taught the disciples, and us, this:

While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Friends, we may not be able to comprehend the meaning, purposes, or outcomes of these elements on us and for our lives, but we cannot argue this. If Jesus is who we say he is, and the bread is his body, and the wine his blood, metaphorically, symbolically, or literally, could there be anything more Extravagant than that?

That the Son of God, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, says that this is his body and blood, taken, broken, blessed, and given for each and every one of us, what could be more extravagant than that? I cannot think of a thing.

When we come to the Altar, Christ’s table for all of us, think on that. The simple bread, the sip of wine, is costly, and precious, and good. This extravagance would be for you if you were the only person who ever lived. Sometimes with the children, who are often confused by the body and blood language, and maybe even scared, I sometimes say, “This is just for you.” That’s Gospel. That’s Extravagance. That’s Grace.

But not all the extravagances of that night were of any value. Jesus made a prediction of what was to come in the wee hours of that night. He was forthright. But the disciples with Peter as the Ring Leader said ‘“Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.’ Extravagant promises, promises unfulfilled. They all walked away. They all let it happen.

Jesus knew it would. He knew they would let him stand alone. He does not condemn them for it. He says it plainly and matter-of-fact-ly. Their extravagance came to mean nothing. But even then, EVEN THEN, his forgiveness and grace extended to them even at this lowest moment of his life. Alone. Scared. Forlorn. And still his loved flowed. 

There is a reason why we call this the Passion. Only love could do this. Only Jesus could do this. For God so loved the world that God gave his only Son that whoever of us believes in him won’t be condemned but shall live forever. Jesus came into this world, not to condemn us, but that each and every one of us could be saved in him, through him, and for him.

Extravagance, friends. From Gethsemane to Golgotha, from Canterbury to 815(hq for the Episcopal Church), from St. James the Less to your Home. The love flows out. While shrouded in heartbreak and bad intentions, God’s love will win out. It always has, and it always will.

Extravagance! Amen 

Year B Lent 4 WED 2024 Wherever He Goes

 Year B Lent 4 WEDNESDAY, 13 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Wherever He Goes”

Collect: O Lord our God, you sustained your ancient people in the wilderness with bread from heaven: Feed now your pilgrim flock with the food that endures to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 5:19–29

Jesus said to the Jews, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

“Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

I saw a cute little collection of videos the other day. It was toddlers mimicking older folks getting out of chairs and other things where the aches and pains require a response. And the toddlers did as they saw. Monkey see, monkey do. It was rather cute.

Jesus is saying that he is following God’s lead. As the Father, so the Son. 

So often we want to think there was the age of miracle and prophecy. God never stopped being at work in the world. Ever. Then and now.

We all hear rumors that the Church is dead, or the Episcopal Church is doomed. There will never be none. Some of us are just too stubborn to go anywhere else. Or for me, it took me so long and we went so far to find what we found in the Episcopal Church that I cannot imagine ever not being here.

I came because I heard the call of God and the insistence of God. I had thought about it two serious times before, but it was not worth the price. But when we were really ready, it came quickly and joyfully. When people ask why we came into the Episcopal Church there are reasons, many of them. But the “Why?” is that God called us.

God is still at work, and the best thing that we can do is to be open and ready, and when we hear God call “Jump!”, we do.

The old phrase rings so true. The Most Important Things In Life We Cannot See. That Bread of Heaven is still what feeds my soul. Eucharist, God’s Word, those still quiet moments in the Daily Office. This is when and how God feeds me. He does not feed me for ONLY my nourishment, I have been fed so I can feed. I have been blessed to be a blessing. If I am following God I cannot go wrong. 

When Jesus goes on to speak of the Dead hearing his voice, it can get confusing. Are these the dead here? Or these the Dead waiting in Sheol or Hades, the waiting place of the souls of the departed.

We tend to explore this more on Holy Saturday, we often can get bogged down focusing too much on the metaphysics. So I will spend my energies on the things I can know. 

God is at work.

He invites each and every one of us to follow his lead, and be at the work at hand, just like Jesus did.

He gives us life after this life so that life, and our service of God, does not end.

The adventure of what comes next is not something that we as God’s Children need fear. From life to life. From love to love. From Now to Then, seamless and beautiful. 

Amen

Year B Lent 3 2024 Things Real and Unreal

 Year B Lent 3, 3 March 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Things Real and Unreal”

Collect: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The[ Jewish Leaders] then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The [ Jewish Leaders]  then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

“You cannot serve God and mammon.” That is how you may have first learned this idea. It is the King James Version, and its old sounding words were intentional when it came out. The New Revised Standard Version, the version we use here in church, puts the whole verse this way:

‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ Matthew 6:24

This is Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Wealth and money are a tool, but they are not the end, the “be all, end all.” Far from it.

While this verse is not in today’s readings, it does set up Jesus’ view of money, and money is one of the topics that Jesus talked about most. This construct we have is even one step removed from the money used in Jesus’ day. At least then the coins had the value of the metal used. Our paper money is a construct of a construct. 

And for us to get these constructs straight, you may be asking yourself, “Rock, what do you mean by construct?”

It is when we give something power or meaning beyond what it has on its own, and we mutually agree that this construct, which we made up, we will treat as if it is real. 

Imagine this: If I started pulling out $100 bills and lighting them on fire, one of you would run up here and stop me. Maybe because I should not be lighting fires in the church, but more so because I they are $100 bills. While printed on nice linen paper, it is still paper which we have together agreed has value. I can trade that piece of paper and several of us could go and have a meal together. What I can do with this thing is real, while the construct is not. National borders are the same way. We agree that there is a line where there is no actual, physical, visible line. People fight and die over those constructs. While make-believe, they are treated as real.

For many, God is a construct. They have not been introduced to a God that made sense to them or they have not had a profoundly personal interaction with the Almighty. I have said this before, when someone says around me that they are an atheist they often look to see if I react. I don’t. That is theirs and their experience. If I am able and they seem open I do ask them to describe the God they do not believe in. The times when people have taken me up on it, their construct of what “God” is supposed to be is a monster. Cruel. Harsh. Judgmental. Vindictive. I have always been able to say that I would not and do not believe in that God either. Really, it is their construct of a God that I could not fathom. But this is the one that someone, somewhere presented to them, and they rejected it. I would have as well.

And so that is where Jesus comes in, presenting a loving, relational, personal God. A God of Grace. A God of Forgiveness. A God like the Prodigal Son’s Dad. A God who weeps with us and welcomes us home.

With this in mind, we need to hear what Jesus is saying. ‘You cannot serve God and wealth.’

Don’t trade God who you know for some unknowable construct. Don’t trade love for power. Don’t give up things eternal for things whose meaning can disappear in a snap.

For Jesus, it is all about relationship, with God, with one another. At the end of the day, our relationships are the only things that are real. Some are new. Some are life-long. Some are hurting. Some are blooming.

This story about Jesus seems out of character, unless you filter it through that idea. That idea that relationships for Jesus are the be-all, end-all.

In recent years a joke has been made about this story. We all have probably seen the WWJD bracelets, and hats, and t-shirts, etc. 30 years ago they were everywhere. Since memes have become so huge on social media, I have heard “Next time you are asked, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Remind them that flipping over tables and chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibilities.” While funny, he was making a huge point.

Jesus’ rage over the activities going on in the Temple was understandable. Prayer. Prayer was the reason for the Temple, not commerce. The booths were established for a reason, but then they became a means to an end.

The Temple put up with it because it got its cut. Dirty Roman money with a graven image on it, Caesar’s head, could not be used to pay the Temple tax. Good Jewish money with a menorah or other Jewish symbol on it could be used. So the moneychangers were there to exchange foreign currencies to the one and only place where it could be used, here at the Temple.

The sheep and cattle being sold were for sacrifices. Pure, unblemished. If bought there you did not have to bring one from far away over so many miles. While astronomically expensive, for many it saved so much headache and they were guaranteed to be taken as acceptable. It was worth the cost if you could afford it.

For Jesus, the commerce taking place had ceased to be a practical or even honoring thing. It was all being done for money. Money had become the reason for the Temple to be there instead of prayer.

Slight pause here, Prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God. Scripture is another. But the Temple was to be a house of Prayer first and foremost, so it was to be a place of relating to and with God. The stench of the animal pens that one had to go through to worship seemed out of place, and rightly so.

There are some tables we need to flip over in our lives, and maybe in our church. When we put outcomes and bottom lines above relationships and our faithfulness, yeah, we need to flip the tables. If someone took our building away, our church would still be here. If someone took Ashland away, we would still have a mission to spread God’s relationships and grow in ours with God. When this world is taken away, the one thing remaining will be your relationship with God. Alpha, Omega, Beginning, and End.

Today we gather(ed) for our Annual Meeting as a parish. We were able to see what took place in the previous year. We are in a time of high anxiety, and whenever we go through a period like the one we find ourselves in, people are cautious with the money. It is only natural. Because of that, we have had to have several monetary conversations. Every time we do I am reminded of today’s readings. 

Being reflective, I have to ask, are we gathering, or sending out this letter, or mentioning money in a sermon to further relationships or to be transparent in relationships? Or am I like the Temple leadership who were happy to take their cut of the marketplace’s income? We are very cautious around these topics.

But like you all, the church has bills. We have a wonderful space with which we are very generous. We have been and we aim to be in the future. We have these facilities to sponsor ministries or to further relationships. Like the money needed to keep them up, the facilities as nice as they are are merely a tool for the work God has given us to do.

We gather at the Annual Meeting to remind ourselves, no matter how often we attend, no matter which service we go to, no matter how long we have called this fellowship our spiritual home, we remind ourselves that we are the Church Family of St. James the Less. 

As a family we learn and grow from these truths.

Don’t trade God who you know for some unknowable construct. Don’t trade love for power. Don’t give up things eternal for things whose meaning can disappear in a snap.

We are a twig on the diocesan limb of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement. As we care for our family on each of these levels, God will be glorified and make Godself at home with us. As Revelation closes we hear God speak these words:

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them and be their God. (21:3) 

That is the relationship God wants with us and for us. Everything else is nothing. Amen